Crave

(Credit: Crave UK)

The terms "easy to use" and "mobile phone" should go hand in hand, but they rarely do. We're regularly driven to tears when in a phone comes in boasting more features than Inspector Gadget's trenchcoat, but requires a forensic decoding of the instruction manual just to send a text message. Thank heavens for the Doro HandleEasy 330gsm.

Doro has been busy making easy-to-use mobile phones for some time now, and the HandleEasy 330gsm is its latest offering. Aimed squarely at users who don't need or want the frills, this handset is a tribute to simple design. The keys are large and give great mechanical feedback--you really know when they've been pressed--and its features are functional rather than frustrating.

In addition to making calls and sending and receive text messages, the 330gsm has a hands-free option over a loudspeaker, a safety alarm just in case you get into any bother, and an LED torch, which is particularly useful for finding keyholes in the dark. It's available in black or white. We've spent a few days with the 330gsm and it is indeed a simple phone.

All of that said, it's not entirely perfect. To navigate the menu, you have to use a scroll wheel on the right-hand side. It's easy enough if you've used something like that before, but potentially fiddly if you haven't. The charging port is also a little on the small side.

The 330gsm is available direct from Doro online for about 140 pounds (about $278) on pay as you go, which is very expensive for what it is, but understandable given that they are almost specialist products. We hope with increased interest in the Doro range, prices will fall soon.

(Source: Crave UK)

We always tell laptop shoppers not to sweat those "This week only!" deals at the online stores of major PC vendors. If you miss this week's free shipping, free hard drive upgrade, or $50-off offer, there'll be an equally good set of deals offered the next week. Like the "call in the next 10 minutes" line used in infomercials, it's just way to push shoppers to make an immediate buying decision.

Still, free shipping is usually a good bonus, but sometimes you have to read the fine print. We saw this bogus deal on Consumerist.com--one of our favorite consumer advocacy sites. Gateway is currently offering free shipping on its P-172X laptop--a low-end entry in Gateway's current 17-inch series, which we generally like. However, the text of the offer actually reads: "The powerful P-172X is just $949.99, plus free shipping! $20 Handling Charge applies."

So, the shipping is free, but the handling (putting the laptop in the box, perhaps?) is extra. We peeked around the Internet to see how much shipping usually is for a laptop. Dell offers overnight delivery for about $70, but plain old 3-to-5 day shipping is--you guessed it--$20, even on a 17-inch laptop, and there's no separate handling charge. We looked up how much Gateway normally charges for shipping--and maybe $20 is a bargain after all. Ground shipping from Gateway is $60, while overnight is $136.

The moral of our story is twofold. One, don't fall for "OMG! Get it now before this deal expires!" hard sells, and always factor the shipping (and handling) costs into your purchase.

(Credit: Engadget)

As Crave UK mate Rory Reid found out the hard way (risking a hernia with Dell's 20-inch laptop), the definition of "portable" is a relative thing with PCs. And thanks to Sony, British lower lumbar regions will soon be tested again, this time with TVs.

The Bravia B4000 digital LCD is destined for the U.K. market with screen sizes of 20, 23, and 26 inches and surround-sound speakers, according to Engadget, which means they're not exactly made to fit in your pocket. We're not sure how much they weigh, but the fact that there's a handle built into the frame is an indication of their poundage.

Note to manufacturers: If your so-called portable product requires a handle to carry around, perhaps it's time to revisit the drawing board.

(Credit: NEC)

Companies are always looking for a gimmick to distinguish their products from the pack and, when the direct competition means the likes of Apple and Dell, they may well need all the help they can get.

That, at least, is the predicament Japan's NEC finds itself in where all-in-one desktop PCs are concerned. So what unique feature does it boast? A handle. Yes, NEC's "PowerMate P5000" series has grown a handle in what seems to be part of some odd trend that has seized part of the technology industry. Other than that, this "hybrid" PC's specs seem fairly unremarkable, with PCLaunches reporting a 17-inch screen, AMD Turion dual core processor, 4GB of memory, 200GB hard drive, and dual-layer DVD burner.

There's just one nagging question: Rather than lug around a desktop PC with a handle, wouldn't it be easier to just get a laptop?

(Credit: Global Sources)

This may be the strangest media player we've seen since the one from Japan that gives facials in between MP3 tunes. And even that one didn't look quite so weird.

For some reason Taiwanese company Yung Fu Technology has come out with a player whose most noticeable feature is an undeniably ugly handle built into its frame, making it look more like some kind of power tool than a piece of personal electronics. And even if you can get past that, Engadget notes that there's no information on storage, pricing, or availability on this product, which has a 7-inch screen and weighs 2 pounds.

But given that this is being distributed by China-based Global Sources, that's not particularly surprising. This is, after all, the same outfit that's peddling the so-called Mercedes media player.

(Credit: Coroflot.com)

If you live alone, it's not long before you start giving your furniture nicknames. Cleon, my armchair, is a great conversationalist.

That said, I've never really gotten to know my door all that well. It keeps to itself. I don't even know its name.

All that can change with this door handle. Amsterdam-based designer Naomi Thellier de Poncheville's Hand-le, exhibited at the London Design Festival, would let you shake your door's hand to open it...or at least grab its hand and twist it. Doors need persuasion too, sometimes.

[Via Notcot.org]

(Credit: Brando)

If Hong Kong-based Brando were a little kid, he'd be the one in the back row of the classroom getting everyone else in trouble. That, at least, is what the gadget maker seems to be doing (wittingly or otherwise) with its "Sports Pack" of accessories for the Wii.

The innovative "Wiimote" of Nintendo's new game system has gotten the company in some legal trouble with people who blame the device for gaming-induced injuries. Now Brando comes along with a set of attachments to the wireless remote, including pint-sized versions of a tennis racket, golf club and baseball bat, of all things. (Remember the De Niro scene in The Untouchables?)

Talk about throwing kerosene on a bonfire. It should be noted, by the way, that our colleague Caroline McCarthy was one of the first to point out the Wii-bashing phenomenon way back in November. She's kind of like the Brando of Crave.

(Credit: Michael Kanellos/CNET Networks)

Technology demonstrations at hotels are always sort of weird. You go to the hotel, the staff knows you're not a guest but they still let you walk on by, and then you go to a suite. The door opens and there are a bunch of guys with desktops and half-eaten lunch plates. Now I know how gigolos feel.

This week Intel is showing off how machines outfitted with its new quad-core chips perform on games at the Palomar Hotel in San Francisco. The topper of them all is pictured here, a custom desktop with two four-core Xeon chips. The motherboard costs $500 and the chips are about $1,000 each, said Francois, an Intel rep. The case comes from Cooler Master.

Regardless of what you think of this monster, it's great for battling the Blitzkrieg. Francois fired up Call of Duty, and the PC rolled back the Germans faster than ever. He also did a rendering test that whizzed through some video. Patton would have pushed 'em back to the Baku oil fields in a few days with one of these. Es ist sehr fantastisch.

AMD is going to be showing off similar stuff in a few days.